Brooks joins coaching staff of NHL’s St. Louis Blues

Canton native Dan Brooks was recently named the video coach of the NHL’s St. Louis Blues during the summer of 2012.

Source: Peoria Rivermen (rivermen.net)

Brooks began his professional coaching career with the Peoria Rivermen before the start of the 2010-11 season after 14 seasons as an assistant coach at both the major junior and collegiate levels. He spent the 2008-10 seasons as an assistant coach with the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

While with Drummondville, he coached and helped develop two first-round NHL draft picks (Sean Couturier, eighth overall by Philadelphia in 2011, and Dmitry Kolikov, 14th overall by Florida in 2009). In 2008-09 he coached under Guy Boucher, who won the AHL’s coach of the year award with the Hamilton Bulldogs a year later and was named head coach of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning in June 2010. Brooks and Boucher guided the team to a franchise-best 54 wins and 112 points as well as a President’s Cup championship and a trip to the Memorial Cup. Brooks took over the head coaching duties during the World Junior Hockey Championships and guided the team to a 7-2-0-1 record.

Prior to that, Brooks was a member of the Brown University coaching staff for six seasons, five of which were spent as the top assistant. He spent three seasons (1999-2002) as an assistant coach under Bill Wilkinson at Wayne State University in Detroit. Prior to his stint at Wayne State, Brooks coached under Wilkinson for one year at Western Michigan. Before WMU, Brooks served as assistant coach during the 1997-98 campaign at Bentley College under head coach Jim McAdam.

He is the son of Alan and Pat Brooks of Canton and the proud uncle of Nicolas and Marissa Brooks, also of Canton. He is married to Nicole Sanford Brooks, formerly of Tampa, Florida, and is the proud father of Julia Reese Brooks.